Piles are used in many different applications. For example, piles are used to support buildings, docks, piers and other structures. Piles are also used to secure boats and locate desired sites.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,380,124 discloses a beach stabilizer system for building layers of sand on a beach and minimizing erosion of the beach. An important aspect of that system includes piles arranged at spaced intervals. The piles may be used to locate and literally retain discs associated with the beach stabilizer system and may also be used to facilitate vertical adjustment of such discs. It is explained in the '124 patent that the piles may be installed by being driven to a sufficient depth beneath the surface of the ground through the use of a front end loader and water jets.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,664,139 discloses a removable "self-jetting pile". The pile disclosed in the '139 patent is made of concrete. The decent of the pile through soil is facilitated by the use of water jets.
It is also known to use augers or other sophisticated equipment to create holes in which piles will be arranged. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,637,758 discloses a method of driving hollow piles into the ground where an auger is utilized for excavating soil. When the excavated soil is lifted to a desired position, compressed air is utilized to force the excavated soil out of an associated hollow pile.
In certain applications, it is desirable for piles to be weight bearing devices (e.g., supporting buildings or docks), while other applications may require piles for lateral support (e.g., boat slips and jetty markers) but do not require a weight bearing function. Hollow piles can be efficiently installed in certain environments where a weight bearing function is not a requirement. Such an application is disclosed, for example, in the '124 patent where the piles may be used as part of a beach stabilizer system.
In other applications where a weight bearing function is required, hollow piles may be installed and subsequently reinforced with a filler material, such as concrete or the like.
Regardless of the intended use of the piles, it has been inefficient prior to the present invention to create holes in which piles may be installed. The present invention solves the problems of the prior art by providing a highly efficient and effective method and apparatus for creating a hole in soil and optionally installing a pile in such hole.